Mode-related stories
Posted Nov 19th 2009 4:03PM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, Celebrities, Heroes, Casting, Reality-Free
I love hearing stories about how certain stars auditioned for certain roles and didn't get them. What would the show/movie have been like if they were cast in it instead of the person who eventually got the role? For example, did you know that Danny DeVito was almost cast as Serena on
Gossip Girl?
Here's another tidbit:
Ugly Betty star Eric Mabius auditioned for the role of Peter Petrelli on
Heroes. It's not really clear whether he didn't get the role because Milo Ventimiglia got it or if producers of
Ugly Betty grabbed him for the role of Daniel Meade before Heroes producers could sign him up. Whatever happened, he's now playing the head of
Mode magazine while Ventimiglia is absorbing people's superpowers.
The interview above is rather interesting. Mabius has moved back to Massachusetts with his family (he met his wife here while in college and wants to raise his kids here). He says he doesn't have a plan for his future, though he might have to get one. I have a feeling this might be the last season for
Ugly Betty.
Posted May 22nd 2009 8:09AM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Watercooler Talk, Reality-Free
On last night's two-hour season finale of
Ugly Betty, Henry came back to New York to warn everyone that there's a killer going around killing all of the wedding guests one by one. Well, no, but Christopher Gorham came back to possibly screw things up between Betty and Matt.
Was this a good season finale? Is the show as good as it used to be? Does it deserve to get another season (though
it's moving to Friday nights next season, always a sign that it's on its way out)?
Posted May 8th 2009 8:11AM by Bob Sassone
Filed under: Other Comedy Shows, Watercooler Talk, Reality-Free
I used to really be into
Ugly Betty, and now ... not so much. There are just other things to watch, and that feeling of "oh,
Ugly Betty is a great show I wonder what's going to happen tonight!" is just gone. I think it ended around the time that she took that hansom cab ride with that one guy though she still wanted to be with Henry. Or something. Anyway, I'm looking at it and ... Ralph Macchio is in it now?! And David Rasche?! Discuss last night's episode here.
Posted Apr 17th 2009 11:08AM by Allison Waldman
10. Samantha Newly,
Samantha Who? - Real Estate
9. Christine Campbell,
The New Adventures of Old Christine - Gym Manager
8. Jim,
The Office - Salesman
7. Betty Suarez,
Ugly Betty - Editorial Assistant
6. Chuck Bartowski,
Chuck - IT Guy
5. Kenneth Parnell,
30 Rock - Page
4. Gary Barnes,
Gary Unmarried - House Painter
3. Susan Mayer,
Desperate Housewives - Children's Book Author
2. Adrian Monk (
Monk); Shawn Spencer (
Psych); Patrick Jane (
The Mentalist) - Police Consultants
1. Penny,
Big Bang Theory - Cheesecake Factory waitress/aspiring actress
Want to see the pictures or leave a comment? Click here.Posted Nov 11th 2008 4:38PM by Allison Waldman
Filed under: Casting, Reality-Free
Okay, now that it's behind us, we can say that
Lindsay Lohan's turn on Ugly Betty was pretty lame. However, I have hope that other guest stars will do much better. Therefore, the news that Broadway star -- multiple Tony winner --
Bernadette Peters will appear on Ugly Betty is a good thing. Just the name of the character she's playing, Jodie Papadakis, is funny.
Please, please, let this be a sign of good things to come, because
Ugly Betty could use an injection of good stuff. So far this season, the show has lurched around searching for its comedic soul.
Continue reading Bernadette Peters checks in to Ugly Betty
Posted May 18th 2007 1:50AM by Julia Ward
Filed under: OpEd, Ugly Betty, Episode Reviews
(S01E24) I can't stop crying.
Continue reading Ugly Betty: East Side Story (season finale)
Posted May 11th 2007 1:19AM by Julia Ward
Filed under: Ugly Betty, Episode Reviews
(S01E22) Before we get started, I need to get something out of the way.
"A boy like that. He'll kill your brother."
Who wants to live in America?
Rita Moreno does! I'm just one big fag haggis experiencing her inner theater queen. We all know that there's a
Betty musical episode in the works, but I think we might be in for a preview next week. The episode is called "East Side Story," guest stars
Kristin Chenoweth and is timed perfectly for Justin to save the day for middle school-aged thespians everywhere. Until then, let us reflect on tonight's mystical Mexico tour.
Continue reading Ugly Betty: A Tree Grows in Guadalajara
Posted May 4th 2007 1:55AM by Julia Ward
Filed under: Ugly Betty, Episode Reviews
(S01E21) I wish
Ugly Betty's Christina could sit down with
The Office's Pam and tell her the same thing she told Betty - "You can take care of yourself, princess." How original. How wonderful. How like real life.
Continue reading Ugly Betty: Secretaries Day
Posted Apr 27th 2007 2:50AM by Julia Ward
Filed under: Ugly Betty, Episode Reviews
(S01E20) Betty is back and in fine form. The writers have officially ditched all the weak links - Constance, Nico, the warm-hearted version of Wilhelmina. The bitches are out in full force, and the camp is in overdrive. And, oh my god, I think we have a new word in the pop culture vernacular - "faux-mo!" This week was great, but we're clearly just setting up for next week's Medieval meltdown. Who doesn't want to see a bunch of fashionistas plopped down at a RenFaire to dissect the tragedy? But, that's next week, let us focus our attention on Betty as Carrie, hairapy and little orphan tranny.
Continue reading Ugly Betty: Petra-gate
Posted Apr 20th 2007 12:21PM by JJ Hawkins
Filed under: OpEd, Ugly Betty, Episode Reviews
(S01E19) This episode we found Daniel Meade reverting back to his old womanizing, irresponsible ways, but did he really ever change? Last thing I remember, he was bedding [fill-in-the-blank-random-model]. Oh, but this time he bedded the wrong random model, didn't he? Eh, I guess that counts as personal change.
While Daniel worked on spreading his genes, Betty, as usual, worked on keeping Mode together and chasing down her boss. Is it just me or is Betty's true secret love really Daniel? She's constantly stalking him, keeping tabs on who he's sleeping with (or not), and treats him like he can't pee without her holding his goods.
Continue reading Ugly Betty: Punch Out
Posted Mar 23rd 2007 2:02AM by Julia Ward
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, Other Comedy Shows, ABC, OpEd, Ugly Betty
(S01E18) I would have written this review sooner, but I couldn't stop crying like a big baby. Not every storyline was a home run this week, but the most important one was. It could have gotten all "Lifetime Original," but it didn't. This show is many things - funny, moving, campy - but it is never saccharine.
Continue reading Ugly Betty: Don't Ask, Don't Tell
Posted Mar 16th 2007 2:33AM by Julia Ward
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, Other Comedy Shows, OpEd, Ugly Betty
(S01E17) Here's the formula for a great
Ugly Betty episode - let Wilhelmina be bitchy, let Marc and Amanda be campy and send one of the Manhattanites to Queens to have a fish-out-of-water bonding experience with Betty. Throw in a little geek chemistry, and you've got yourself one shiny
Betty episode.
Continue reading Ugly Betty: Icing on the Cake
Posted Feb 9th 2007 2:33AM by Julia Ward
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, Other Comedy Shows, ABC, OpEd, Ugly Betty
(S01E15) This show wows me on so many levels - the humor, the subversion, the eye candy, the emotional pay-offs, but damn, the writing - on a structural level - is so freaking good. This may have been the best episode of
Ugly Betty yet. They took what is a soap opera mainstay and typically written off as a joke - a man becoming a woman - and turned it into something real. Honestly, it was just plain artful how the writers thematically connected Justin's story of playground bullying and his father's concern about his sexuality to Alexis' story of her own father's disapproval and eventual sex change. In the Suarez home, being accepted for who you are and seeing beauty in the people around you wins the day. In the Meade home, your father would rather see you dead than happy. That wasn't the only structural parallel at work in this episode either - Betty and Daniel were, as always, playing out the same stories in different universes. Betty forced Daniel's hand in confronting Alexis, but Daniel didn't let Betty out of confronting Walter. "It's a lot harder avoiding people than facing them."
Continue reading Ugly Betty: Brothers
Posted Jan 19th 2007 1:32AM by Julia Ward
Filed under: Other Drama Shows, Other Comedy Shows, ABC, OpEd, Ugly Betty
(S01E13) Move over,
Zarf! Alexis is here. I think I may need to go back to Soap Opera 101 because I was not expecting that little bombshell. And, was it just me, or did Christina's hair get higher when she decided to sell out? What a seriously sudsy week on our favorite Golden Globe-winning comedy and/or musical.
Let's start with the drama. Lines are being drawn at
Mode care of Ms. Wilhelmina Slater and the woman who we now know to be her accomplice - Daniel's brother Alex, who apparently didn't die jumping out of a helicopter on a pair of skis. He just fell on his penis and decided to have it removed. (Do you think if men knew they could have a sex change operation and come out looking like Mystique that they'd do it just to fondle their own breasts?)
Continue reading Ugly Betty: In or Out
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